Treat or Trunk Wednesday

When it comes to the Halloween season, there is nothing more important than the safety of our children. That’s why the Portsmouth Police Department has scheduled a special event for children this Wednesday (Oct. 12) night 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Tracy Park.

“A couple of months ago when Drew Carter contacted me about doing that Portsmouth Rally Day in Tracy park, we were all talking then about needing to do more community outreach and things like that, to get the police department out there for close one-on-one contact with citizens on a non-professional basis,” Operations Captain Lynn Brewer said. “Drew is a deejay from here in Portsmouth. Actually he’s a deejay become farmer. He’s a very vocal, outspoken young man who is very positive on the Portsmouth community.”

Brewer said Carter’s idea came about after recent police shootings across America.

“Portsmouth doesn’t act like that and we need to show everybody, this is the way you do it,” Brewer said.

Brewer said it was police officer Andy Dawes who came up with the idea to have a “Trick or Trunk” event in Tracy park.

‘We’re going to be passing out Halloween candy to pre-school through grade 5,” Brewer said. “We’re encouraging the kids to wear their costumes. We’re definitely encouraging their families and parents to come so they can meet us, talk to us. It’s just more of an outreach for the community and a way of saying ‘thank you because you continue to support us the way you do,’ and we hope this is the beginning of what will be many more events like this.”

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) held a National Policy Summit on Community-Police Relations and issued a report designed to serve as a roadmap for law enforcement, communities, and stakeholders to build meaningful, sustainable, trusting, and effective working relationships. Summit participants outlined three conceptual elements of building community-police relationships. The report defines those elements as communication, partnerships, and trust, and provides recommendations for improvement in each.